Greece rejigs taxation of gambling monopoly OPAP

ATHENS Feb 3 (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Greece on Sunday
introduced a tax-free threshold on small gambling winnings, as
it tries to increase tax receipts from gambling monopoly OPAP
without hurting its sales.

According to a legislative amendment to be submitted to
parliament soon, OPAP players' winnings will be taxed
progressively, the finance ministry said. The move scraps a
10-percent flat rate on all winnings which was announced in
September as part of government efforts to plug its budget
deficit.

Winnings between 100 and 500 euros will be henceforth taxed
at 15 percent and those above at 20 percent, the finance
ministry said. Winnings below 100 euros will go entirely tax
free.

Analysts had criticised the flat-rate taxation, arguing it
would discourage small-time punters and hurt company sales and
tax receipts.

Thirty-four-percent state-owned OPAP is one of Europe's
biggest gambling companies and the crown jewel in the debt-laden
country's privatisation programme. It is worth 2 billion euros
on the Athens Stock Exchange, making it Greece's third-biggest
company by market value.

OPAP, however, is dogged by regulatory uncertainty, with
rivals such as William Hill and Stanleybet challenging
its monopoly and taxation regime in Greek and European courts.
Regulatory and taxation news frequently cause wild swings in its
share price.

The government said on Sunday it obtained European Union
approval to scrap the flat tax rate. A 30-percent levy on OPAP
gross earnings, also announced in September, is not changing.